As the 2021 Iron Viz Qualifier deadline approaches get advice from past participants

The 2021 Iron Viz qualifier contest is underway and the three finalists will advance to the Iron Viz championship for a chance to win $10,000. Whether you’re a seasoned veteran or a newbie, participating in Iron Viz is an opportunity to challenge yourself and compete with data enthusiasts from around the world! Keep reading for information about this year’s prizes, best practices from the community, and instructions on how to enter.

Fame, bragging rights, and prizes

If these prizes don’t spark joy, we don’t know what will. The top 10 overall finishers in the qualifier contest will receive a $200 Tableau Store gift certificate to get their data swag on. The top 3 finalists will progress to the Iron Viz Championship where the stakes get even higher:

1st place: $10,000 cash prize (!!!); $5,000 to a nonprofit of choice; free registration to Tableau Conference 2022; and the Iron Viz Champion trophy

2nd place: $5,000 cash prize; $2,000 to a nonprofit of choice; free registration to Tableau Conference 2022

3rd place: $2,000 cash prize; $1,000 to a nonprofit of choice; free registration to Tableau Conference 2022

And the prestige of competing on the global Iron Viz stage? Priceless.

Resource roundup

Check out these resources from past Iron Viz participants to learn why you should enter Iron Viz and how to be successful:

Iron Viz User Group webcast
Christian Felix (2020 Iron Viz Champion) and Sarah Bartlett (Iron Quest founder and Tableau Zen Master) will share their personal experiences participating in Iron Viz. Hear their tips and tricks to help you make your viz-tastic entry stand out from the rest.

Create a compelling Iron Viz Qualifier entry in ten steps
Joshua Smith—Iron Viz co-champion in 2019, and judge in 2020—possesses a deep working knowledge of UX design, storytelling, and data visualization. Check out his advice to create a compelling entry.

7 resources to kickstart your Iron Viz
Andy Cotgreave—Technical Evangelist at Tableau—put together a list of thoughts and resources based on his ten years of judging and hosting Iron Viz. From finding datasets to design and everything in between Andy shares how to “keep it real” and create a winning submission.

Reasons to Enter Iron Viz 2021
Sarah Bartlett—Iron Quest founder and Tableau Zen Master—shares her experience as an Iron Viz participant, reasons to enter, inspiration, and resources to support your journey. She also busts a few myths along the way.

If Data Could Talk: Behind the viz with Iron Viz contestant Christian Felix
After last year’s Iron Viz, we sat down with each finalist (Alex Jones, Simon Beaumont, and winner Christian Felix), to discuss their builds, their analytical and design decisions, as well as their general tips about Iron Viz.

How to enter

No matter your level of experience, Iron Viz is an opportunity to push your skills, learn something new, and engage with an incredible community. Every expert was once a beginner—dream big and start now.

Download Tableau Desktop.
Create a Tableau Public profile.
Get some publicly available data. Check out the resources above or this blog post by Jacob Olsufka for tips on finding free and interesting data sets.
Publish your visualization to your Tableau Public Profile.
Once published, submit a link to your published visualization here.

Submissions will be accepted until July 2, 2021 (11:59:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time). For more information on prizes, official rules, and instructions to enter, please head to the contest page.

We hope these resources give you some inspiration. We can’t wait to see your creations.

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Open to legal residents of Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada (excluding Quebec), China, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom or the United States who are validly registered users of Tableau Public, who have validly registered in the Contest, and who are at least the age of majority in their jurisdiction of residence at the time of entry. “Contest Period” is from 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time (PT) on 06/02/2021 through 11:59 p.m PT. on 07/02/2021. To enter, during the Contest Period: (a) visit https://www.tableau.com/iron-viz and register as a contestant in the Contest; (b) properly download the Tableau software and connect to any free and publicly available data set; (c) produce and publish a Tableau Public data visualization; and (d) provide the URL of the visualization to Sponsor at https://www.tableau.com/iron-viz. Three winners will be scored based on the following judging criteria (a) Submission’s analysis of the Data Set (b) Design of Submission, and (c) storytelling of Submission from 07/06/2021 – 07/30/2021. Winners will each receive one digital conference registration to the digital 2021 Tableau Conference (ARV: $0); (b) gift certificate to the Tableau Store (ARV: $200); and (c) qualification to participate in the finals. Odds of winning depend on number and quality of eligible entries. Contest subject to Official Rules. Details and restrictions apply, so check out the official rules. Sponsor: Tableau Software, LLC